Libya: Liam Fox insists it is not policy to kill Gaddafi

British military strikes in Libya are not intended to kill Colonel Muammar
Gaddafi, Dr Liam Fox has insisted.

British military strikes in Libya are not intended to kill Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, Dr Liam Fox has insistedPhoto: AP/PA

10:31AM BST 27 Jun 2011

The Defence Secretary said the repeated attacks by missile and helicopter gunship were intended to “degrade” the Libyan dictator's ability to wage war and “dismember” his command.

Questioned on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Dr Fox refused to answer whether an RAF gunner who found Gaddafi in his sights should shoot him.

But he reiterated the Government’s stance that it was not “our policy to kill Col Gaddafi”.

Foreign Secretary William Hague later welcomed the international criminal court's decision to issue an arrest warrant for Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, saying it demonstrated that the Libyan leader had "lost all legitimacy".

Dr Fox's comments came just a day after a senior American general involved in the Libyan campaign admitted that Nato forces were trying to kill Gaddafi, according to Mike Turner, an Ohio Republican and member of the House Armed Services Committee who met the general.

Dr Fox also denied claims by senior military leaders that the war in Libya was stretching the Ministry of Defence’s budget too far.

The conflict in Libya, under which British forces are enforcing a United Nations mandate, was initially predicted to cost tens of millions of pounds but the cost has already exceeded £200m.

Dr Fox acknowledged that it was impossible to predict when the war would end but said it could “end very suddenly” such as the Balkan conflict.

But it is now 100 days since fighting began in Benghazi and Nato has flown 12,000 sorties, including 5,000 attack missions, and hit more than 2,400 targets, without Gaddafi’s regime crumbling.

Dr Fox insisted that Britain could afford to continue its operations in Libya.

He also said senior figures around an increasingly isolated Gaddafi could play a key role in ending the war, adding that he wanted them to realise that “investing in Gaddafi is not a smart move”.

The claim that Nato was trying to kill Gaddafi reportedly came from Adm Samuel Locklear, commander of the NATO Joint Operations Command in Naples.

Mr Turner claimed the general said that efforts had been stepped up to target the Libyan leader, despite declarations by the Obama administration that “regime change” was not the goal.

Mr Turner has opposed the military intervention from the outset was among those who voted in the House of Representatives last week to deny President Barack Obama the authority to wage war against Libya.

He told Foreign Policy magazine that he came away from his conversation with Adm Locklear convinced that Nato was acting beyond remit of the United Nations 1973 resolution on Libya, which allowed for enforcement of a no-fly zone and the defence of civilians and against Col Gaddafi's forces.

"I believe the scope that Nato is pursuing is beyond what is contemplated in civil protection, so they're exceeding the mission," he said.

Leaders of the African Union reiterated calls for a ceasefire to be observed by all sides, including Nato, and an interim government to be established following negotiations.

President Jacob Zuma of South Africa said signatories to the UN resolution had not intended "to authorise a campaign for regime change or political assassination".

Col Dave Lapan, a Pentagon spokesman, said Adm Locklear’s views had not been accurately reflected on “either US ground troops or the targeting of any individual, including Col Gadaffi”.

“The admiral clearly understands and has repeatedly emphasised the stated objectives for the military mission as set forth” in the resolution, he added.